Visible Bodies, Invisible Work: State Practices toward Migrant Women Domestic Workers in Malaysia

Abstract

The changing characteristics of labor migration in Asia today elicit an important question regarding the nature and consequences of state involvement in the entry and employment of low wage migrant workers. This paper offers an analysis of the labor-receiving state's practices toward migrant women domestic workers in Malaysia. I ascertain that the exercise of a particular kind of state power as evinced from policies and legislation, consistently make visible migrant womens' presence in society even as their labor in households is rendered invisible. A key consequence of this is the fragmentation of public support for migrant workers, and the contraction of what can be considered legitimate space for Malaysian NGO advocacy on migrant labor rights. To counteract this, some NGOs have adopted alternative strategies and targets that begin to reveal the possibility for constructing alternative forms of governance.